Cumulus Market Manager Doug Harvill tells The San Francisco Chronicle he relishes in the challenge of going from a championship team (he worked for CBS Radio in San Francisco for 12 years before the Entercom merger) to a rebuild (in May he took over as Market Manager for the Cumulus cluster in San Francisco). “When I got to CBS in 2005, we were third-rated. It took a couple of years, but we grew it to No. 1.”
The paper notes that Cumulus is third in that market, behind Entercom and iHeart Media.
Harvill says Cumulus feels like a startup and he, again has the financial resources similar to what he had at CBS, adding at Cumulus he sees qualified, passionate people.
At the age of 63 Harvill is charged with turning around some of radio’s most recognizable call letters such as KGO-AM, which he tells Chronicle reporter Ben Fong-Torres that is working on building community and he plans to add additional voices to the station soon. “It became a powerhouse because it became a voice for the Bay Area. It’s a simple mission we’re getting back to, and we’re seeing progress.”
The Cumulus cluster also includes KNBR, KSFO, KFOG and KSAN. Harvill says at KNBR he’s cut ads by 30 percent and at KFOG they are trying to build a younger audience.
A ratings and revenue turnaround in that major market would certainly big a huge success for Cumulus which recently emerged from bankruptcy under the leadership of CEO Mary Berner.
Read the full Chronicle article HERE
